


Dead to me

by IfOnlyWeCouldFlyAway (orphan_account)



Category: DCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adorable Tony Stark, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Christian bale Batman, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Enemies, Friends to Lovers, Hurt Tony Stark, Multi, Partner Betrayal, Secret Identity, Secret Identity Fail, Secret Relationship, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:01:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24514273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/IfOnlyWeCouldFlyAway
Summary: “You’re right”, tony whispers, he looks at him more sternly, determination in his eyes “you never asked me to help you. But as a friend—”.”oh is that we are?” Bruce snorts, “sorry, I never received that memo”.In which Bruce Wayne doesn’t realize how much of a dick he is.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne, eventual Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 103





	Dead to me

**CHAPTER ONE**

Fixing things isn’t Bruce’s specialty.   
  


While Bruce isvery intelligent and perfectly capable, it often seems that fixing and putting things back together isn’t in his wide array of skills. He meets all the requirements of a genius, maybe even bypassing them, seeing as he was able to get as far as he is in life. He passed his exams with flying colors, and on each assignment he received the highest of scores. He was a perfect student, a picture perfect one as well, seeing as his looks granted his approval from time to time. Getting into one of the best magical institutions had been a breeze, ilvermony school of witchcraft and wizardry had offered him a scholarship, _fully paid,_ he had taken it obviously, and then he was set for life under the LEAUGE program. Though there were only three “schools”, Bruce couldn’t help but snort at hogwarts cheesy house names, hufflepuff? Raven claw? Bunch of quacks snorting coke must’ve come up with that one. Though, Bruce couldn’t trash talk that much, their house names weren’t any better. SHIELD, LEAUGE, and of-course, the lesser known PHEONIX. 

His [school](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quotev.com%2Fstory%2F11989429%2FMagic-Gone-Right&psig=AOvVaw3efqrguBiTq4sxVBrYdYPR&ust=1591307722103000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKjNybXR5ukCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAa) was nothing like hogwarts, America was pretentious and conceited, building a castle like school with a marble floors and walls, displaying gigantic portraits and hand carved statues, diamond chandeliers and silk curtains, anything and everything inside that glorified school screamed “we’re better than you”. Bruce didn’t really care, they were in competition with only two other schools, eventually his own would top the rest. Though he could appreciate the architects that had sacrificed blood and tears, souls and first borns to make the school a replica of Greek portrayals in books. They had ripped Olympus from the sky and placed it right on top of hell on earth: America. How fitting.

But back to the point, Bruce was absolutely awful at fixing things.

He had started off with an amazing record, for such a long while he had been the perfect student, his teachers had loved him and his piers had looked up to him. But when everything is shooting up at such a fast pace, eventually it all comes down.

Bruce stops caring. He starts to notice imperfections in his schools system (apart from the obvious ones) and from then his only goal is a solution. For one, the diversity was practically non existent, only being around a few black and Hispanic students that attended. There was conflict in between each group, classes, bathrooms, showers (for those who could not afford private ones),seats at breakfast, lunch and dinner were segregated, everyone stuck to their own, and no one wanted to change that. But Bruce did.

It reminded him of his home where he had grown up, and while Gotham was no safe haven, he couldn’t help but miss the days back home, next to the only father figure he had left, _Alfred._ So that’s what Bruce sets his mind to, he no longer shows up to his games, nor does he show up to his classes, all that mattered to him now was correction.   
  
His lab partner, and only partner for every other subject, had only quirked an eyebrow at his little speech and chuckled, he hadn’t made fun of him, but he had found his determination amusing.

”If only you had the same determination for this potions assignment”. 

Bruce had snorted, kicking his feet up onto the table, ignoring his partners scolding look and relaxing into the leather chair. 

Bruce could admit the torment he had made his partn— his _friend_ go through, leaving all the unfinished work and assignments for him to finish on his own, leaving him to talk alone through presentations and asking for favors that often took up the younger mans precious time, there was so much that Bruce had asked from him. But he always did it, time after time, his lab partner came through. 

And Bruce never understood why.

But Bruce speaks to him about his plans either way, he comes up with Ridiculous plans and draws shitty pictures of him in armor riding off into the sunset, pictures of the school becoming a haven and everyone being happy. He’d laugh for hours in the student library with his partner by his side, feet tucked under him and an arm thrown around the younger man, most time snacking on the complimentary candies. And no, it was never as romantic as he made it sound.

_He’s in the[library](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ficreateworlds.net%2F2018%2F01%2F13%2Fhaunted-library%2F&psig=AOvVaw3QoX4C_w5gA3-Md_F6HzwY&ust=1591303827544000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCOjAuPDC5ukCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAO) when he hears the door behind him (and above) open, soft footsteps accompanied by soft grunts as a person made their way over the high wall and into the library. It was a door, once upon a time when there was a third level above the one where he stood, but that one had collapsed and left the small door remaining. It wasn’t as easy to get through, but definitely a lot easier than trying to get through the front door. The Library was old and falling apart, it had served it purpose and now it had been left to rest. So there was no need for any student, or teacher for that matter, to be inside. The literature was dated and useless, exactly the reason why Bruce would climb up the stone wall and sneak in through the door. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, which is why he’s at least a bit disheartened when a small thump on the wooden floors indicates the persons success._

_There was a certain book that Bruce had been searching for, he wasn’t quite sure existed, but he had heard rumors of a book (more so a journal) that contained secrets of the past. And if there was any place he would find a book that old, it would be here._

_Its quiet for a long while and Bruce almost forgets that the person is even there, he doesn’t jump but the break of silence does surprise him._

_“you were late”. Again_

_Bruce doesn’t turn, he doesn’t need to, he can already see the disapproving look on his exasperated lab partners face. Bruce thinks he may have left all his unfinished work for him to finish, and maybe (maybe) for a second, he feels bad. He clicks his tongue, thinking carefully over his next words in order to avoid another (and unnecessary) lecture._

_“great observation. Always the eagle eyed nag”._  
  
_Bruce doesn’t miss the deep inhale next to him. His lab partner— tony, (ever since the incident, it had been hard to say his name), stares at the side of his face in disbelief, his lips slightly parted gaping at him. His mouth moves but no words come out, Bruce holds back his smirk, he always was able to leave tony stark speechless. But his surprise only lasts two seconds, his shocked face forming into a stoic one._

_Bruce can practically feel the animosity vibrating off of him._  
  


_“you cannot do this Bruce”, Tony huffs, waving his feathered pen at him, “not anymore. You’ve been working so so hard to bring your points up. And! and it’s your third year! You should be taking it more seriously now. Bruce—”._

_Bruce cuts him off with a dismissive wave, his eyes still trained on the book section before him, “it’s not like my side expects those points from me anyway—”._

_“but mine do” tony snaps, “Mine do Bruce. I’ve been working my ass off to get you back into the ranks, I mean, I’ve put in a good word with my professors and finished your assignments just so that they could see your potential. I’ve been working. so. hard. Bruce”. Tony stares at him pleadingly, hopeful eyes boring into the side of him face. He knows what Tony’s asking of him, and it’s nothing astronomical, if anything, he’s asking for the bare minimum of him. So Bruce doesn’t understand why he clenches his jaw and finally turns to tony with a hard glare._  
  


_“I didn’t ask you to do any of that tony”._  
  


_Bruce grimaces at his choice of words, not that tony notices. He doesn’t regret his statement, but he does feel the discomfort bubble up inside his chest. Tony on the other hand, is biting the inside of his cheek and nodding slowly, his eyes are on Bruce but his sight is somewhere else. Bruce almost asks him where his thoughts have gone, where his train had taken off to. But he doesn’t._

_“You’re right”, tony whispers, he looks at him more sternly, determination in his eyes “you never asked me to help you. But as a friend—”._

_”oh is that we are?” Bruce snorts, “sorry, I never received that memo”._

_That comes like a slap to the face for tony, he flinches at his words and instantly Bruce regrets it. why did I say that, why why why—He reaches out to apologize but Tony’s already shaking his head, again his eyes are on him but his mind is drifting elsewhere. There’s a crestfallen expression on Tony’s soft features, long lashes casting shadow onto rosy cheeks and plump lips. It’s like looking at a kitten who’s toy got taken away. But no, this was deeper, Bruce knew what friendship meant to tony, and him dismissing it like it was nothing didn’t just strike a nerve— it blew up the entire system._

_Tony reaches into the bag beside him, shuffling through a few objects that make small ‘clinks’ as he does so. Its after a moment that he pulls out a beaten up book and shoves it into Bruce’s chest, his hand lingering on the cover for moment before shaking his head again, pushing past Bruce. He turns to stare at his retreating form, an unsaid apology lingering on his lips. It’s only after he’s gone through the wooden doors that he turns his attention back to the book cradled to his chest._

_Bruce turns the book over in his hands and his breath hitches, The domes unnatural dismay. The book he had been searching for an eternity, just handed to him like it was nothing but another fantasy book in the children's isle. Bruce flips through weathered pages, crinkled corners and what he hopes was coffee stains, each page containing different information about the first magical school known as the dome. Diagrams upon diagrams, some containing layouts and structures showing that the school lived up to it’s name, indeed being shaped like the half of a hardened egg. “How did you get this tony” he mumbles, long fingers lingering on the giant crest embedded into the cover of the book._  
  
_Bruce instantly shuts the book closed and shoves it into his robe when he hears the doors open again, this time being the ones at the first level of the library. He sticks close to the older shelves that stand shoved into the darker corners of the place, stepping quietly and inching forward to the same doors tony had just disappeared through. The doors led to the ruins of the castle, burned and destroyed architecture leaving only fragments of stone, and leaving it up to the viewers imagination to figure out its once all mighty appearance._

It’s all well and dandy until his lab partner takes the blame for all of Bruce’s faults and mistakes. 

Bruce had been in his shared lab, messing around with his partners potions when he somehow (purposefully) tips the shelf where they sat and watched as each slid off and smashed into the ground, instantly mixing in with each other and seeping under the protective doors and into the faces of unprepared students. No one had died, _thankfully_ but many had been seriously hurt and injured by the mixed potions. When the headmaster came by the labs and demanded to know who had caused this, his partner had stared at him and silently begged to take the blame, to tell the _truth._ He didn’t. And Bruce watched, _witnessed_ as the headmaster dragged him away and screamed at him down the hall.

Bruce still remembers the betrayed and heartbroken look on his partners face. 

And so he had gone to find him, knowing where he would be. Bruce isn’t surprised when he does find him hours later, curled up in an old couch staring at the countless shelves of old and worn down books, he doesn’t move or say anything,but Bruce knows that there’s anger waiting to lash at him. 

“I thought I was doing well”.

Bruce lifts his head from his knee, watching quietly. 

“I took many faults...many of them being yours... And it’s crazy, isn’t it? My father always knew that I’d be the loud and rowdy one, always causing chaos and destruction. Because that’s who a stark is right? Cocky, loud, disruptive and...and me”— he sits up properly, shoving his hand into the pockets of his oversized sweater, he clears his throat, “Tony stark in the media is what you’d expect, because what else would you expect?

’Stark is seen partying all night with hot babes on his arms!”’ Tony frowns, shaking his head, “ _no._ Tony stark was celebrating his best friends graduation, Tony stark was laughing and having fun with his friends, his _real_ friends. But that’s not what they saw was it?”. There’s a bitter tone at the end of his sentence.

“The entire world took one look at my face and thought to themselves ‘that boy will only be trouble’. And he is, _I am._ But trouble that apparently only I could see, trouble at campaigns and fund raisers, begging the people to help the poor and the oppressed, begging for the compassion of heartless businessmen that only saw money signs in people. And I thought....I thought for such a long time that I was the problem, I couldn’t be the hero of the story because I was a stark, _am a stark._ So I work hard to get into this school, I knew I was pure blood, I could just throw money at the school and I’d be in, but _I didn’t_ , I didn’t do that. And yet, all the people here think the same thing...stark is gonna be some real trouble”. 

Bruce waits for tony to continue, he can hear his tiny sniffles from where he sits, he can see him use the sleeves of his sweater to wipe away his tears, “and then you come along. And at first I think, oh this is just another one of those serious and guarded people, the kind that drinks his coffee black and answers in one word. But no, Bruce Wayne isn’t this dark and mysterious man, sure, he glares at anyone that dares look his way, makes short and snappy remarks and sticks to himself but...he’s a dreamer”.

Tony digs through a small pouch that had previously been on the floor, he pulls out a tiny book that seems to be packed with various colored notes. “Bruce Wayne was indeed very dark and serious but”—tony laughs, his eyes are puffy and red but he ignores the sting in his eyes, instead he flips through the book and pulls out some of the pages to show him, “—he’s a dreamer. He tells me about his aspirations, his plans for a better place, a better _world._ And he draws them for me, he shows me what the future will one day look like, and Gosh I am in love, in love with his ideas and pure intentions. So I don’t care when he leaves me all the work to do, or when he leaves me to finish our presentations, when he skips class or leaves me to take the blame for something I did not do.

I take the blame even if it hurt in my soul to do so. Because I worked so hard to get in our headmasters good side, I worked so hard so that I could be appointed president of council, or at least earn a seat at the council table. Because then, and only then would I be able to make a change, a _real_ change.” Tony sighs, sad honey eyes looking over the familiar scribbles and notes in Bruce’s handwriting, and Bruce’s heart _clenches_ at the sight of his despair, and yet somehow, present in front of tony like a dog with a tail between its legs, it’s impossible for him to open his mouth and apologize. 

Tony stares at him for a long, he waits for something, anything. But Bruce remains quiet. The same heartbreak remains in his eyes, his chin trembles and his eyes get that wet look all over again but he refuses to cry, he just slams the book closed and tosses it aimlessly into his pouch. It doesn’t fall in quite right.

“I hope you’re worth it Bruce Wayne”.  
  
From then on it’s all different, Tony hadn’t told him everything that night, he hadn’t told him that his punishment had been Ruthless, that he’d lost his rank and job, that he had lost the respect of many superiors and elders, that he’d been banned from places he had worked his ass off to be able to step in. There’s resentment, Bruce knows as much.

Bruce knows he deserves it, but it doesn’t stop it from hurting so much. 

Tony is still his lab partner surprisingly, though he’s pulled out from all of the other programs he once shared with Bruce. It’s different, Bruce can feel the difference every time he wakes up, he feels a difference when he walks alone through the quiet wing of LEAUGE, he feels the difference when he eats alone after history, when he sits though potions and linguistics is a stoic manner, and when he enters the lab to find all the work finished. 

Bruce never was good at fixing things. 

* * *

  
  


Tony doesn’t know what to do for the next few days, all responsibility that he one had was stripped away by his superiors, any assignments that had yet to give were already finished and ready for delivery, his blue prints for mechanics are already laminated, fully prepared to be presented when the time would come. 

So Tony rests, though it’s unpleasant. He lays in his [bed](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9c/de/40/9cde40943049317f5a2c8b8a88f75c58.jpg) all day and ignores his friends texts and calls, he groans at the skinny rays of sunlight that filter through his curtains and into the dark of his room.   
  


Tony lays in bed quietly, though every other minute he sniffles and wipes his eyes with the thick comforter. He inhales and instantly smells peaches, it nearly gets him to crack a smile at the memory of Bruce joking with him. When he had first met Bruce, the man was serious, always sporting a stoic expression on his face, sharp features never cracking into amusement or happiness. Tony remembers his countless tries at making the older man laugh or crack a smile, maybe even give him a quirk of an eyebrow. And of course, he had failed over and over again. 

That is, until one day when they were working on a partnered project for magick physics. Tony smiles into his hand at the thought. 

_Tony is leaning on Bruce: the usual spot he’d take when visiting him at his dorm. LEAUGE had nice rooms, Tony could admit that much, but it was still funny to poke fun at Bruce for choosing the cheesiest house of them all. ‘You chose the one house that makes you pick a magic name, I mean sure SHIELD asks for code names but that’s part of safety measures’_

_Bruce would only roll his eyes at him, pushing him onto the floor (softly, though Bruce would never admit it) and only snorting at Tony’s pout and whines. ‘Right, because using the code name ‘iron man’ is so subtle and perfect for safety._

_Tony grinned, ‘I’m glad you agree! Unlike Batman— I mean, wha..why? Might as well named myself uh um’ tony stops to think of name, ‘killer clown man!’._

_‘you’re scared of...clowns?’_

_‘that’s not that point!’ Tony huffs, crossing his arms and nearly stomping his foot, angry at Bruce finding his temper tantrum adorable. “You should’ve gone with SHIELD...at least then I get to see you more often”. The last part is mumbled but Bruce hears him just fine, already used to Tony’s quiet grumbles and murmurs.  
  
Bruce sighed dramatically (or as dramatically a emotionally stumped person could) and dragged tony by his shirt and into his arms, holding his flustered mechanic friend in place. “You get to see me everyday, we’re partners in almost every subject”._

_”no” tony corrects, ‘we’re partners in every_ _**joined program** subject, that doesn’t count! It’s not the same as regular subjects”. He drops his head and bumps his forehead on Bruce’s chest, “that’s like seeing you on the holidays”._

_”that is absolutely **not** the same, but whatever makes you feel better peach”._

_Tony freezes. His chin rising up slowly, eyes narrowing and cheeks puffing as he stared down (up really, Bruce is like a foot taller but whatever, it’s the intent that matters) Bruce. His lips open slowly, sounding out the question so that the taller man would understand._

_“Did you..just call..me a peach?”.  
_

_“Mm yes”, Bruce waves it off as if it was a common thing to say, which tony finds...weird, sometimes Bruce would address him as ‘Stark’, most often when they were in public or in class, “did you expect apple? You don’t really smell like one”._

_”what” tony squeaks, pulling his shirt up to his nose and inhaling deeply._

_Bruce just shrugs (a rarity as well, he was too..posh) and moves away from tony, going back to lounging on his bed, tony sits at his feet quietly. Bruce already has his book back in hand, the same book that tony had once translated for him, though this time he was going for a more thorough read and inspection.  
_

_“Why..a peach?”. His voice barely above a whisper.  
_

_Bruce clicks his tongue, “Tony..you smell like peaches. Why are you so surprised?”. He lifts up a perfectly groomed eyebrow and tony gets the urge the slap the smug look off of his face.  
_

_”that part I get, I use peach and mango shampoo, what I_ **_don’t_ ** _get is why you“ —tony grins, a mischievous look in his eye—, “have been smelling me”.  
_

_“you are..”_

_”smart? Funny? Absolutely gorgeous?” Tony supplies, trying to fill in the blank._

_”..annoying”._

Tony sniffles, wiping his eyes once again, there’s a few tears running down his cheeks but he doesn’t bother wiping those too. He knew he’d only continue to cry harder, so he just turns in bed instead, burying his face into his pillow and screaming. He doesn’t know how long he holds the scream, only noticing the dryness in his throat when he’s done. 

“I put my all into you” he whispers against the silk of his pillow, there’s most likely drool on it but tony doesn’t care, his chin has most likely already rubbed on it.  
  
”where did I go wrong? When did I take the fatal step?”. His voice is raspy, but there’s still a stinging pain that bubbles far below his throat, scratching at his lungs, torturing his poor heart.

“When did I—“.

Tony shoots up in his bed, his elbows holding him up. His eyes are wide and he’s gasping, he knew the _exact_ moment that he had stepped into the lions den.

_Tony sits at the other couch opposed from the one Bruce sits, a small coffee table making a border for the two. Tony doesn’t really care, he was absolutely exhausted and had no energy left to pester Bruce with lame jokes or Cheesy pick up lines. So he just leans against the hard wood and velvet fabric of the couch, grimacing at the uncomfortable position he lands on. ‘Apparently the grandpas that made this couch didn’t take comfort into consideration’ he muses, letting his head drop over the border of the couch, nearly hanging off but only his hair falling over. He wants to fall asleep, nearly doing so before a cough interrupts his train of thought towards dreams._

_Tony sighs and rolls his head back up, peaking from under his hand to look at his lab partner, which whom looks back at him unimpressed. “What?” He whines, grabbing the pillow at the other side of the couch and dropping his face onto it with a quiet ‘plop’._

_”if you’re just going to be falling asleep, you might as well leave, there’s no point to your presence”._

_”you’re rude” mumbles tony into the pillow, not bothering to look back at Bruce._

_”and you’re incompetent. Unfair world it is”._

_Tony pushes himself up into a seating position, cris crossing his legs and dropping his arms. His eyebrows furrowed, a hint of a pout forming on pink lips._

_“Incompetent?” He sounds out.  
_

_Bruce barely nods._

_“incompetent” tony tries. He hums for a second, thinking over the word, his eyes trained on his fluffy slippers. “In...competent”._

_”Mm...my apologies, It appears you aren’t using your big boy words yet.”_

_Tony laughs tiredly, rubbing his left eye while looking at Bruce, “bold words for someone who didn’t finish their physics paper”._

_A tongue click._

_”I finished it for you” tony clarifies. “I mean it was easy but I took time out of my precious time to do you the favor”._

_”which I did not ask for”._

_”which you should be grateful for”._

_Bruce snorts, turning his attention back to the book in his hands, already finished with Tony’s nuisance. But of course, tony isn’t. He opens his mouth to say something before snapping it shut, instead turning his head to the side and reading the title of Bruce’s book._

_”that’s not a physics book”._

_”hm, how strange, I didn’t notice” Bruce retorts with a dry tone. “It’s like I didn’t read the title before opening it”._

_Tony rolls his eyes, “okay fine you got me there but still” he rolls the ball of his foot to the toe on the floor, excitement bubbling up at the presence of new knowledge, “why would you need to read a book about...” he pauses to read the title, “the old layouts of ilvermony?”.  
_

_‘thats a strange topic’  
_

_”That’s unimportant knowledge for you to know”. Tony throws his hands up in surrender, going back to his previous position on the couch: this time making sure it’s a comfortable one. He listens to Bruce’s advice though, picking back up his physics textbook and flipping to the projects main chapter. He’s actually back to studying and writing small messy notes on the margins of his book before he hears Bruce clear his throat again. This time however, tony doesn’t give him the satisfaction of turning to face him.  
_

_After a moment, “you read hebrew?”._

_”that’s unimportant knowledge for you to know” tony mocks teasingly. His face breaking into a smile and nodding a second later, dropping the book to his side “amongst other languages, yeah, it was a toughy not gonna lie”.  
_

_Bruce hums, long fingers flipping through crinkled pages, the book was absolutely dwarfed by the size of his hands. He seems deep and though and tony doesn’t bother striking up conversation, he’s learned by now that Brice isn’t much of a teller but rather a listener. Tony blows into his cheeks and huffs, he wasn’t opposed to Bruce being his lab partner, but he definitely wasn’t pleased by it.  
_

_So Tony does what he usually does when he’s bored and entertainment: take out his phone and begin to play on a live discord. His hand is already in his bag when he hears Bruce take in a deep breath and, “could you translate...” Bruce waves his hand over the page, “this page?”. He looks defeated by asking for help, gesturing to the book like an annoyed mother would at a mess her child made. Tony almost wants to tease him and maybe Jab at him a bit: but he doesn’t.  
_

_So Tony just smiles even brighter and hops up and over to where Bruce is sitting, literally squashing the awkward man against the armrests. Tony doesn’t even notice Bruce’s flushed ears or his squawk of indignation, his eyes are on the page that Bruce had referred to. Quick and analyzing eyes skim the page before turning to face Bruce excitedly, and sure the book was boring and uninformative_ _**but** Bruce had asked this of him, so his eyes are wide and shiny when he meets Bruce’s— admiring ones?_

_Then tony notices how close he actually is, his nose almost touching Bruce’s sharper one, he mumbles an apology but pushes the embarrassment away in order to translate the information. He pulls the book from Bruce’s hands, “this” he points, “this is not a lay out though the diagram suggests that it is. It’s kind of weird actually, the author jumps around **a lot** but still manages to avoid the topic question which he wrote on top so like? Super weird. Anyway, it’s a code, or at least the beginning of one. I mean, look at that” his finger circles around a certain image, his brows furrowing softly, “that resembles ilvermonys crest”._

_Bruce listens attentively, though every once in a while his eyes travel up Tony’s hands and to inspect (admire) his face, he notices the doe eyes and honey like irises, his long and dark lashes and soft features, like his nose and his plump lips. It’s gross. Bruce ignores the thought of the younger man being anything but attractive, instead driving his attention back when tony snaps his fingers in front of him._

_Bruce meets his eyes for half a second, gesturing for him to continue. Tony gives him a weird look, ”okay...so back to the other diagram, this one is a bit harder to understand.” ”how so?”. “Well, whoever wrote this is..slightly more advanced in building next gen firewalls.”_

_Adding after Bruce’s skeptical look, “only slightly”._

_”I don’t understand it? I mean I **do** but it’s the futuristic aspects of the book that I don’t, it doesn’t match up with the time period this book was written”. Tony’s in disbelief, “this...all of this..what are you looking for?”.  
_

_Bruce doesn’t answer for a long second, he’s studying Tony’s expression, trying to figure out how’d he react if he knew why, **why** he was spending so much time trying to dig up ilvermonys history. It’s dead history. He considers lying, just tell him that it’s for a architect model, that it’s a reference for a drawing his going to make or—_

_“you don’t have to tell me”. Bruce opens his mouth to explain but tony lifts his hand and taps Bruce’s lips with a finger. “It’s okay, i leave you to your spooky book, just..let me know if you need more translating”._

_Bruce doesn’t even get a word in before Tony’s up and walking towards the computers, whistling to himself quietly._

Curiosity did kill the cat, Tony muses, except that this time there was absolutely no satisfaction that was to bring him back.

”at least not on my part” he mumbles tiredly, his back feeling heavy already, barely being able to hold up his head as he slumped against the mattress, lifeless like, formless. He’s falling back to sleep when he hears soft knocks at his door, they knock three times and Tony stays silent, peeking from Underneath his covers to look at the wide double doors.

It’s a long while and tony thinks the person had already gone away, his mood is up, or really just interrupted. But he smiles sleepily, already getting ready to fall back asleep when the door clicks and swings open.

Tony groans under the thick covers. “Noooo, go awaaaay”. 

He vaguely hears an amused chuckle before the sheets get yanked off of him. That sends tony screeching off his bed and onto the other side of the mattress, trying to hide from the intruder. 

“You animal, come on get up. I want to get dinner”. 

Tony peeps at the man from his spot for a second, squinting his eyes wearily trying to get accustomed to the bright light that streams in from his now open curtains. It takes him a second before his face splits into a wide happy grin, he’s jumping back onto his bed and onto his freakishly tall friend.

Stephen catches him with ease, his hands settling under Tony’s ass and pushing him up letting the shorter man wrap his arms around his neck. He’s met with happy brown eyes, (though Stephen can tell that he’s been crying)and a toothy smile. Stephen can’t help but smile back, even if it’s just a tiny little one. ”good morning” tony greets, one of his arms are looped around his neck while the other goes to push the loose hair away from his face. 

Stephen hums in acknowledgement before plopping tony back down onto his bed, Tony doesn’t protest but he definitely gives a defiant whine. “I’m dying here Stepheen” he drawls, “all I need is a hug and you betray me like this? The absolute _nerve”._ He finishes the last part by narrowing his eyes at him, shaking his head and making small ‘tsk tsk’ sounds.

Stephen just slaps his hand away, sitting in the empty spot next to tony, the bed sinking down slightly as he settles down. “You’re not dying you lunatic” he murmurs quietly, letting tony crawl and sit down on his lap. 

”no” tony agrees, “I am indeed not. Though it feels like it”.

He gets a hum in reply.

”I messed up Steph” he mumbles into his neck, “I thought I was doing the right thing but here I am, having the whole thing just blow up in my face. I didn’t know...I didn’t _think—_ “.

Stephen nods along, listening to tony ramble. ”well that’s usually the problem isn’t it? You didn’t think”. 

Again, tony agrees with him. “I didn’t think” he says with a nod, “but I _was_ feeling.

And it’s never good to think with your heart. Rhodey says so all the time, he’s a wise wise old man”. 

“he’s twenty se—”.

“such an old old _old_ man, I mean, he’s practically dust by now _but_ the point is, he was right. And it’s a scary thing when he’s right”.

Tony feels the rumble of Stephen laughs on his chest, his cheek resting on his collarbone and nose hitting his neck. He enjoys his warmth for a second longer, signing and leaning into Stephens firm hold. He feels long fingers brush through his wavy hair, “as much as I’d love to sit here and cradle you, I’m here to get you to eat. So come on, let’s get moving and”— Stephen smells Tony’s hair and makes a face, “you should probably take a shower before we do so”.

Tony gasps against warm skin, pulling back to look up at Stephen with a shocked expression, “did you just say I stink?!”.

”be glad I haven’t made comments on your weight”. 

With that, Stephens drops him back onto his bed with a bounce, instead getting up to get some clothes from Tony’s wardrobe. He opens the doors and snorts, “it’s like a biker gang threw up in here, I mean seriously”—Stephen picks out a piece of [fabric](https://pin.it/4idPeAW) and raises an eyebrow—“what is that?”.

” _that_ is called fashion honey bear, wouldn’t expect you to understand that concept”. 

“Yes, because I would just love to look like a briefcase”. 

“Maybe _you_ would, but this” tony gestures to himself dramatically, “all these curves would never allow it”.

“get in the shower before I slap you with it”.

Tony quirks an eyebrow, “why? Wanna join me?”.

Stephen stares at him unimpressed, looking ridiculous as he held a leather freak suit while dressed as a 40 year old tired mom dealing with her annoying kid.

”....yeah alright, I’ll get in the shower”.

Stephens back to looking for comfortable clothes but he hears Tony’s bare feet patter down the hall to his grand bathroom, he hears tony giggle and yell “the offer still stands”. Stephen doesn’t even turn to look at the hall he went down, only rolling his eyes and mumbling profanities. 

In the end, Stephen picks out something rather simple for Tony, setting his [clothes](https://pin.it/V5jV01f) aside folded neatly on his bed. Deciding to wait while he showered, he settles down on Tony’s bed, having been there many _many_ times before, he didn’t really care if tony would kick him off. Stephen smirked amused, Tony had never done so, not even when they had been three sharing a race car bed. He doubted tony would start now. 

He was right. Tony comes out of the shower after half an hour, he’s wearing an over sized sweatshirt that Stephen absolutely sure is actually his. He doesn’t comment on it though, he simply eyes the tattered ends and huffs when tony flops on top of him. He doesn’t mind, and even if he _did_ (he never did and never would)there was no stopping tony and his koala like actions. Droplets of water splatter on his face and Stephen sighs, “did you dry your hair?”.

Tonys silent for a moment, his body stiffening for a second before, “....yes?”.

Stephen goes to scold him but the tiredness takes over, instead he pulls up Tony’s sweatshirt (ignoring the smaller mans Yelp) and dries the wet hair, fluffing it after when it’s only slightly damp. Tony just enjoys the pampering, going limp on Stephens chest and letting his run long fingers through wet curls. He sighs contented, a ghost of a smile stuck on his lips while he got comfortable and ready to nap. 

“You should get changed” comes the rumble of Stephens voice, the vibrations giving tony a wave of sleepiness, “let’s get food, after that you can cling on to me like a feral monkey all you want”.

Tony snorts, “I’m not the only feral monkey in this relationship”.

”this relationship hm?”.

”but of course, or have you forgotten that we’re married?”, tony lifted his head to give his since childhood friend a look of mocked hurt, wiping away imaginary tears with the too large sleeves of his sweater.

He gets a long and exasperated sigh in response.

”you giving me a ring pop in the third grade does not count as a proper marriage”. 

“no” tony agrees, “but its _our_ veryownpersonalizedmarriage, that makes it more special”. 

“Sure whatever”, Stephen agrees with the shorter man, there was no use in trying to argue about their relationship status, while yes, they were very close and personal, they had never dated, but the love for each other was very much deep rooted. Maybe under other circumstances, Stephen would’ve gladly married tony for real, not that he wouldn’t under his current one, but it would definitely be a lot easier. They were both stuck here, in ilvermony studying to become the best of the best, and stephen knew that they were.

While he chose to stick to medicine, Tony had chosen to go with mechanics and technology, ever so the futurist, Stephen knew it in his heart that one day they’d both revolutionize their desired fields. Magic was something that was born in them, they were pure blood students with unparalleled intelligence, they weren’t just wizards, they were the _greatest_ of wizards.

Stephen worked with the ancient one, a powerful woman that possessed so much power and knowledge that it always astounded Stephen how beautiful the world really was. And how beautiful it could be. She was the sorcerer Supreme, and Stephen woke up every day proud that he had been chosen _personally_ by her to be taught. All the books that he read just this month were astounding, maybe in the future he’d be good enough to become the sorcerer Supreme. One could hope, he’d muse. 

Though everything she taught him was outer worldly, he was never allowed to discuss what he learned in her library to anyone else, not even the people he loved. It had been a hard trade to accept, but eventually he had, being the sorcerer Supreme was a gift, but also a burden, and if he really wanted the role, he would have to work to fit in the shoes of greatness. 

It gets lonely, that he’ll admit, there’s many times he wished he could just study normally with the rest of his friends (he makes it sounds like there are many. There aren’t. It’s just Christine, Tony and James), but again, he knew what his responsibility was.

He really did wish he could tell tony. 

“how’s that after hour job”. Speak of the devil.

Stephens attention snaps right back to tony, he meets giant honey eyes staring up at him, he hums.

“It’s tiring, I knew what I was agreeing to when I took the job however” he clicks his tongue, _however_ stayingup until six in the morning going over runes with the sorcerer supreme was taking a toll on him, and sooner or later he’d fall. He was just waiting for the moment, but when he did he’d get up, he was sure of it.

”however?” Tony whispers, his finger tracing softly over Stephens features, stopping at the corner of his lips before sliding them over ever so gently. Stephen can’t help but lick his lips, eyes trained on his friends plumper ones. He freezes under tony again, his thoughts in a much different place than his current one. Tony taps his nose. “You spacing out on me Mr. Stark Strange?”.

He smirks, wrapping an arm around Tony’s waist and pulling his even closer. “Why I could never Mr. Strange Stark, a burst of energy like yourself is hard to go about unnoticed”. He feels Tony’s breath on his face as he laughs, smiling in return at the bundle of joy in his arms.

_Never let this moment end._

Tony’s out of breath when he’s done laughing, tears in his eyes but this time, this time they’re happy. “we’re so dumb” tony whispers against Stephens cheek, feeling the flush of his skin against his cool one. 

“that we are” Stephen murmurs, placing a chaste kiss on the side of Tony’s forehead, “that we are”.

They’re quiet after that, not that either of them mind. They lay comfortably, Tony snoozing away on top of Stephen content while the taller man massaged his head. The original plan had been food at the dinner hall and sleep after, but Stephen was alright with change on plans, choosing to lay there longer while his friend slept.

_we could be more.  
_

Tony stirs slightly in his arms and Stephen instantly stills. He didn’t want to risk waking up tony, not after that he had gone through, even if Stephen didn’t _know_ all of what had actually happened. All he did know, was that Tony’s lab partner had taken part in it, a man by the name of...Bryce? Or was it Brian? He wasn’t sure, but he knew how much he had hurt tony, and how he had been the cause for Tony’s punishments. And that was all he would need to know.

”you’re thinking again” Stephen feels a rumble against his chest, looking down to see tony still resting with his eyes closed.

Stephen huffs , “is that a bad thing?”.

”depends” tony pushes himself up onto his elbows, wincing when he jabs into Stephens side. He leans on one of his hands, the pressure pushing his cheek up (that would most definitely leave a mark on his skin later). 

“depends on what?”.

Tony doesn’t answer him, he watches Stephen with soft adoring eyes, he’d be a fool to not notice the way he looked at him—as if he carried the world on his shoulders. And for tony? He most definitely would try. Not that tony would ever ask for such a thing, the younger man was insecure and sure of being unworthy of love. Tony opens his mouth to answer him but—

“I love you” Stephen blurts out. Instant regret settles in when Tony’s face falls. Stephens instantly sitting up, grabbing a hold of Tony’s wrist as he falls with a soft puff onto the side of the bed, eyes filled with concern—worry that he had overstepped, he knew what that statement meant to tony, and it was never to be taken lightly. 

Tonys eyes are watery. _Shit shit shit_

”I’m sorry I shouldn’t have—“. He’s cut off with lips capturing his own into a sweet kiss. It’s soft and chaste but Stephen feels it in his soul, and while it wasn’t how the movies described it (fireworks and cheering), it still held the feeling of unleashing unconditional love. Stephens hand is cupping Tony’s face, he doesn’t complain, if anything he moves to make it easier, when tony wraps his arms around his neck and swings his leg over Stephen to straddle him.

Stephens hands are massaging Tony’s bottom, not exactly squeezing but still achieving the goal of sending shivers up Tony’s spine. They’re there for a long time, their tongues dancing with each other in sync, though Stephen was the one leading them. Dominant over his mechanic. 

They're panting when they break apart, flushed faces and bruised lips (especially Tony’s), Tony’s the first one to break the silence that follows their part. His arms are still around Stephens neck, holding him close as he looked down at him (a rare occurrence, Stephen was a very _very_ tall man), his voice is soft but Stephen knows how deep rooted it is, “I love you too silly”. He mumbles it but it’s clear enough, Stephen breaking into a grin when tony drops his head and goes to hide it in his neck.

”no no” he murmurs, pulling tony by his chin to face him, placing another kiss on swollen his lips. “I want to see you”, his voice is rough, feeling the croak deep in his chest when he voices his thoughts. “You’re beautiful”. 

Tony smiles at him but it’s so _shy_ , so flustered at the compliments that Stephen gives him. The entirety of that afternoon is spent placing kisses all over each other, though they don’t go any further than that, it’s a soft and tender moment for them, full of love and exploration of their new found relationship. 

They shouldn’t be doing what they are, but in that moment neither of them care, whether it was real or not was uncertain, love came in many shapes and forms, but right after being heart broken and finding it? That one was unusual. Stephen knew it wouldn’t last long, his duties as the next sorcerer Supreme would eventually catch up to him and engulf his life, leaving no space for love or peace, no space for the man he so desperately wanted, needed and craved, but loved? Yes he may have said it, confidently even, but there were uncertainties that lied beneath that strong statement. 

He didn’t know what what happen from there.

* * *

  
Tony’s friendship with Bruce is weird after everything that happened, yes he remains polite and respectful, but the spark that one existed between them was gone. There’s no more shared looks of amusement, no more inside jokes or teasing jabs at each other, the chemistry was well gone.

Theyre in the lab working on the newest broom tech, and it’s quiet but not uncomfortable, slightly tense but nothing that Bruce could couldn’t deal with. They both sit at their shared table, sitting on high chairs so they could work comfortably, choosing to shove the shorter chairs to the side. Only ever using them to drop their coats or bags on them.

Tony bites his pencil, brows furrowed in a way that told Bruce he was confused, not wrong, never wrong, but definitely mistaken. He scribbles numbers on his book, his head giving a barely noticeable nod as he fixed up his equation. 

“All good?” Bruce asks dryly, sure he had been that messed up, but not even dead would he apologize or try and act nice to win back his friends approval. So he asks it in a monotone voice, almost said through clenched teeth.

”mhm” tony barley addresses him, doesn’t even acknowledge his presence, plopping down from his chair and taking a small post it note with him and into the labs book section.

Bruce almost follows him, the book section all the way to the back of the lab was always empty, no one would see if Bruce pinned the smaller man against the shelf and whisper shouted into his ear angrily, threatening to cut up his beloved clothing sets if he didn’t drop the petty attitude. No one would see if he— no, Bruce stops the thought and goes back to the small parts laid out in front of him, picking back up his screw driver, hand tightening around the handle. 

Tony doesn’t come back for half an hour, he comes back carrying four text books, all titled under “Mechanics” and distinguished by numbers, _how vague_ Bruce muses, he doubted those books held any important or useful information. Nothing that could help them with their current task of building a better, faster, broom.

”hey tones”. The voice comes from behind tony, he doesn’t need to turn around to know who that voice belongs to, but he does it anyways, a happy smile on his face when he comes face to face with his friend.

Bruce Banner.

”Brucie bear” he sing songs, making grabby hands at the taller man (literally everyone was taller than tony, even natasha, maybe not physically but mentally? That woman was seven feet tall). Bruce obliges with a roll of his eyes, a fond smile on his face as he walks into Tony’s tight embrace, he rests his chin on the floppy curls of his friend. It’s when he looks up from his hair that he notices the serious man at the other side of the lab table giving him the stink eye, Bruce can only manage a polite smile. 

“You never come to see me” tony whines, his head buried deep in Bruce’s warm robes, much to Bruce’s amusement. “I do visit you tones, like today, here to bring you these”. Tony pulls back from his hug and gasps at the baggie in Bruce’s hand, snatching it with a happy ‘thankyou’ and gasping even louder when he peeks inside to find donuts. 

He looks at his scientist friend seriously, “marry me”.

Banner huffs a hearty laugh, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, “I’d love to but that positions been taking by your”— he gestures around, the vagueness of it making Bruce (the dark and broody one)curious, “doctor friend”. He says the words sarcastically, fingers making quotation marks around the word ‘friend’.

Much to Bruce’s surprise (again, the dark and broody one), Tony flushes bright red, looking down at his hands with a sneaky smile. “Whatever” tony huffs, looking back at up to his long time friend, “even if it wasn’t on my side, it would still be with yours. Or am I wrong about Thor? Hmm?”. Now it’s banners turn to blush, awkwardly spluttering and patting down his lab coat in attempt to remain neutral. It’s a pitiful attempt.

”I– I have no idea—“ tony cuts him off, waving his hand dismissively, “it’s fine Brucie Bear, my love, my beautiful green bean, we all know Thor’s got the hots for you”. 

“Tony!” Banner squawks.

Bruce doesn’t hear the rest of it, he gets up and shoves his things inside his bag, swinging it over his shoulder and shoving the chair back into its place, practically storming off out of the room when the bell finally rings. 

Tony can only stare at his retreating form with distaste on his face. “I swear” he grumbles, turning as well but much more quietly to neatly put away his papers. Banner snorts, coming around tony to help organize his packets and put them back into Tony’s bag. 

“He glared at me the entire time” Bruce mused, “I mean, the second I started talking to you he was already planning my murder”.

Tony snorts, “yeah well, he’s probably planned mine over a hundred times”.

”haven’t we all?”.

”you wound me honey buns” he says with a pout, clasping his bag shut and swinging it over his shoulder, he’s already off his chair and beginning to shuffle out with the rest of the students when “uh tony?”.

”hm?”.

Bruce gestures to the table, and at first tony doesn’t understand, looking at his side at the table with confusion, he was sure he had packed up all of his things. 

”other side tony”.

”oh” he mumbles, finally seeing what Bruce had initially pointed at.

Bruce Wayne’s Lab journal. 

“well, that’s unfortunate”, he turns back around and starts walking out, hearing Bruce sigh tiredly and take a moment before running to catch up to him. Bruce is beside him after a few seconds, one holding the strap of his bag and the other...

Tony groans, “why did you take the book Bruce”.

”it’s the nice thing to do, we have to return it”.

”yeah no, I don’t have to do anything besides pay taxes and die. You do it”.

Bruce stops tony with a gentle hand, pulling him aside from the rest of the students passing by, leading him towards one of the giant pillars instead. At least then they’d be away from being in the way.

”what’s your next class?”, Bruce asks, hand fixing his strap again, wincing at the weight that pulls him down.

”don’t have one”.

”perfect”—he pushes the book into Tony’s hold gently and pats the cover, “then you’ll have the time to stop by the LEAUGE wing and drop it off at his dorm. Or at least with a friend of his”.

Tony starts to complain but Bruce waves it off, ignoring his whines and beginning to walk away backwards, “sorry tones I’ve got a class to get to, it’ll see you at the dinner hall though, the group will be there!”. 

“But—“

”later tony!”

By the time tony starts to say something, Bruce is already gone around the corner, leaving him standing by the pillar alone, the halls empty already as the next bell rang. He stands there for a few seconds, a frown on his face as he thinks over his choices, he could either leave the book where it was and let Wayne find it on his own OR be an actual good person and drop by his dorm to leave the book in his hands. 

“this sucks” he mumbles, but he’s already turning in the direction to the LEAGUE building, he’d been there a few times before, back when being in Bruce’s presence was actually pleasant. He does mind, he minds very much actually, but he still carries on, plugging his headphones in and humming along with the beat as he walks. It’s a short trip, seeing as the building was right across from the main hall building, he’d make it quick, no stopping inside to have a cup of tea.

When he reaches the building, he’s slightly hesitant, standing in front of the large statue of a muggle born hero. A man so great, so intelligent and moving but held back by the restraints of his blood. He’s in front of it for a long while, earbuds still plugged in as he examined the marble. It was beautiful without a doubt, but seeing the man stare him down was unsettling, turning his stomach and giving him a headache. 

_Let’s get this over with._

He’s walking in to the building with his head held high, he knew what floor Bruce was on, and he also knew that his roommates would most likely be there as well. He was fine with that, he never really did see them, having only met one of them by the bathroom while they waited for someone else to hurry things up. And speak of the devil. When tony steps onto the elevator, a woman yells at him to hold it (which he does, he’s not the devil), running in breathing heavily, carrying shopping bags in one hand.

Tony recognizes her immediately.

”Diana” he greets with a smile, earning one in reply, though a much more tired one.   
  
Once she has slowed down her breath, she drops the bags to her side and turns to face him, “Anthony” a thick accent accompanied by a bright smile, “it’s good to see you”.

”it’s great to see you” he winks, but it’s a lot more genuine and Diana understands him, laughing loudly and freely, she was one of a kind, and tony was glad to have met someone like her. She reminded him of pepper and Natasha mixed together. Not Nebs though, or gammy, those sisters were a different kind of amazing, very badass of course, just a bit more scarier. 

“Have you come to see Bruce?”.

”I um”— tony holds up the book, shrugging lamely, “I’m just here to return a journal he left behind in class”.

”ever so kind Anthony” Diana complements, her hand reaching out to squeeze his own, to others it may have seen like flirting, but tony knew better, Diana was a trusted friend, kind and sometimes a bit naive but always with good intentions. It was a mystery how someone like her would befriend someone like Bruce. A mystery that would remain unsolved forever.

”yeah well, I learn from the best Dia”. 

There’s a ding and the doors slide open, Diana goes for the bags but tony stops her, picking them up and hoisting them up over his other shoulder. “Where to?”.

”kitchen” she points, “you can leave them at the entrance though, I’m sensing you don’t want to spend too much time here, especially after the whole—“ she hesitates, Opening her mouth as if to say something but shuts it after a second, instead waving her hand dismissing her point, “the entrance is fine”.

So tony does so, carefully dropping the bags at the entrance and giving Diana a final side hug, but she has none of that, hugging him properly and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek, patting his head softly and wishing him well. Tony denies any claims of his eyes starting to water at the kindness he receives from her. 

From there he walks up the stairs to find Bruce’s room, finding it just a bit amusing that his side of the loft was dark and broody like, all the lights that lead up to his door turned off to add more dramatic effect to the small walk from the stairs to the door. And when he’s face to face with the door, he cringes, he should’ve just left the book with Diana or dropped it on the table of their living room. 

“well, here goes nothing” he whispers, bringing his head up and knocking twice. 

It’s silent for a few seconds, and tony almost thinks he might not be here, starting to turn away when the door swings open and he’s faced with a tired Bruce dressed in dark sleeping clothes. 

“What do you wa— Tony?”.

Hes staring. He knows he’s staring. Tony clears his throat, dragging his eyes away from Bruce.

”you um” he holds out the journal to the taller man, “you left your journal at the lab, I wasn’t sure if you’d go back for it but ah, yeah, there it is”.

Bruce doesn’t reach out for it for a long time and tony starts to worry, eyes darting around the cover of the book, was it not his? Did he seriously just walk all the way here only to find out it wasn’t even—

“thank you”. 

Bruce takes the journal, setting it down behind the door, Tony assumed it to be his bed or desk, it had been a long while since he’d been in his room after all. Things change.

 _And so do people._ His mind supplied, _you did what you had to do now leave, don’t waste any more time on the person who hurt you._

“Alright well, I should” he gestures towards the stairs, nodding when he doesn’t receive an answer and swearing underneath his breath, he turns to leave, casting a final glance back as he neared the stairs, Bruce was still by the door, but staring at the space where he had previously stood.

_So weird._

The moment his fingers reach for the hand rail however, a gruff voice from behind stops him in his tracks, “Tony?” he turns at an embarrassingly fast pace, eyes darting to then end of the hallway where Bruce stood shifting on each foot uneasily, “did you...did you read the book?”.

_did I read the—_

A frown formed on Tony’s lips, brows furrowing in mild confusion, “no” he shakes his head, “I didn’t”. Why would he? It was only a lab journal, and even if it wasn’t, Tony saw absolutely no reason to look through his things. Maybe back when they were still friends he would’ve teasingly threatened to read through his things and find out his weird secrets. He never did of course, he wasn’t that much of an asshole...at least not most of the time.

Apparently however, Bruce didn’t believe him, walking towards him in a menacing way, not a pinch of friendliness in his eyes, no, instead there was alarm, worry, _distrust_. Tony wants to laugh at that, of all people, Tony should of been the most trustworthy in Bruce’s book. But of course (and no surprise here) he wasn’t. When Bruce is standing right in front of tony, towering over him with a murderous glint, pressing tony against the railing of the stairs, tony can’t help but feel scared.

”did you read the book tony”,his voice is gravely low, a growl at the back of his throat as he pressed even further into tony, he didn’t miss the flashes of fear that went by Tony’s eyes. Eyes looking up at him through thick and long lashes, honey eyes darting around taking in his features. “Tony” he warns, a hand gripping the rail behind the shorter man, dwarfing him even more under his large frame.

”no” tony squeaks, shaking his head rapidly, “i didn’t even open it I just, you’re the one who left it and—“

 _And I shouldn’t even be here,_ he wants to say _. I shouldn’t even be in this building at this side of the campus but I am, all because of a stupid book. YOUR stupid book, that YOU left._

Bruce sighs, pushing himself away from the railing, letting tony move to the side and away from the sword–wall position. A hand going through his hair stressfully, he was breathing hard, he could hear himself, but Bruce’s only focus at the moment was tony, what if he had read the notes? The _plans_? Tony could be helpful when he wanted to, but after everything that had happened, he doubted tony would even like to breathe the same air as him.

”you didn’t read the book”. It’s not a statement.

”I didn’t read the book” tony answers, “I didn’t even open it”. 

Bruce turns to him, “don’t lie to me tony”.

That snaps something in the younger man, the fear once vibrating off him now converted into disbelief, Tony gapes at him for a second before it turns into a bitter laugh, it’s ugly and loud, not welcoming in any aspect. In fact, it wasn’t even a laugh directed at Bruce, the laugh was strained, sounding like a wounded animal. 

The look tony gives him is poisonous, “oh _I_ shouldn’t lie to you? How fucking rich of you Bruce, how, how” he waves his hands around aggressively, cheeks and ears flushed in anger, “how fucking rich”.

”this is different Stark”. 

“This is different? This is different?! How is this different?! Not once have I lied to you but you? You’re the embodiment of the snakes plastered on the LEAUGE crest”. Tony jabs his finger at Bruce’s chest, not bothered by the height difference one bit as he stared up at him, “you” he whispers, “are the biggest liar I’ve ever come across. Me reading that book would imply I care, and quite frankly, I don’t. Not anymore”.

”yet here you are” Bruce responds, a tone just as low, maybe even lower, dark eyes reflected on light ones. “Yet here you are, taking the time to walk from the study hall all the way here. And for what? Just to return a book. You know, you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be in the right all the time, I’m not the only one who messed up”. 

_I’m not the one that fucked up everything_.

”fuck you bruce” it’s not said angrily, it’s not shouted nor is it spit, it’s said in a soft voice, barely above a whisper. There’s no disappointment that he feels, he’s too tired to feel tired but not enough to back down completely. His heart was in pain and his brain screamed at him to salvage what was left of them two, save the remains of their friendship and make pitiful attempts to glue the pieces back together.

”fuck you so much” his voice cracks, he doesn’t want to cry, everything that was happening was so stupid, so fucking dramatic. He hadn’t signed up for any of it. All he had had to do was drop off a book and be on him merry way, he should’ve taken banners advice, ‘or drop it off with a friend’, he had seen Diana, he had even helped her with the groceries, he could’ve just left the stupid book with her and avoided all of this torment. And then he could’ve just went on with his day, met up with Stephen and gone on a date, though that part was doubtful seeing as the man was always at work. Business always did come first.

”this is so stupid” he grumbles, adjusting his bag over his shoulder, his eyes back on the older man, searching his expression for a few seconds, “believe me or not, I don’t care”. He steps away from Bruce, determined look on his face as he grabbed hold of the rail again.

”it’s not that simple”. Bruce’s voice is barely above a whisper. 

_Wasn’t it?_  
  
“well” Tony’s chin trembles slightly, “it certainly was simple for you to go and throw all my work in my face”. 

“that’s not the only reason you’re upset”. This time it isn’t a question, it’s a statement. 

Tony holds back the urge to shout ‘obviously’, he could very well do so, but he also didn’t want to risk his roommates hearing their dramatic (mostly, if not all, on Tony’s part) screaming match. They had enough trauma to deal with, they didn’t need any more to be added.

He rolls his eyes. 

“That doesn’t matter anymore”

”to you it does”

”back then? Sure. Right now? Not so much”

Bruce opens his mouth to reply, most likely being a sharp retort with a sarcastic remark following it. But he doesn’t. He looks like he wants to push the topic, like he wants to get answers out of him and get the full story— yet he doesn’t act out any of it.

They both just stood in the dark hallway like idiots. 

_Leave, leave, just leave, please leave._

“I never apologized”.

”and you never will” tony whispers. “I didn’t care when you... when you did that, _any_ of that. But then you went and” he waves a hand in the air, refusing to say what he had really meant, the absence of words speaking volumes. 

“There’s not much I wouldn’t have done for you” he admits, tiredly running a hand through his messed curls, “but that, that was a caustic blow. And you’re you, so... I don’t expect an apology”.

 _i don’t expect you to feel the same way_.   
  
“what do you expect then?”

_so what do I give you in return?_

”nothing”.

_you can’t give me what I want._

”nothing?”

_Are you sure?_

Tony pursed his lips, he was filled with chagrin , he wanted nothing more at the moment than to run away from this conversation, he could admit what he felt, admit how much pain bruce has caused him when..when he _lied_ , when he _pretended_ , when he _used_ him. He wants nothing more to beat the shit out of the charlatan that stood in front of him, looking down at him as if he were superior, above like he always has been.

Always having a stupid hold over him. 

“just go to class”.

 _Don’t get in my way_.  
  


* * *

  
Tony’s already in bed when Stephen shows up to his room, he’s tangled in his sheets and wiping his eyes as soon as he hears the doors click and swing open slowly.

After everything that happened between them, he had made sure to give the older man a spare key so that he could drop by whenever he pleased. It was easier too, sometimes Stephen finished his job late, or early really, leaving the grand library around 5 in the morning feeling absolutely exhausted.

Tony’s dorm was closest to the library, so he’d offered him the freedom to stop by his room when he was too tired to retire to his own and sleep. Nothing more, nothing less. 

He feels Stephens weight slightly bring the mattress down as he sunk down next to him, he hadn’t bothered to turn the light on. It was, after all, midnight, a surprise to tony that his boyfriend (?) had stopped by this early. Stephen must’ve realized he was awake, pulling the covers up and bringing the shorter of the two against his chest. Tony let’s himself be manhandled, sighing in content when he felt Stephens lips on his forehead.

”you should be sleeping” Stephen murmurs into Tony’s curls, feeling him nod slightly in response seconds after. “So why aren’t you?”. 

Tony bit his cheek, “I couldn’t...too much to think about”. His hand goes to find Stephens, breathing easier when he does. The taller man squeezes his hand, bringing it to his lips to place a kiss. ”do you want to talk about it?” He whispers into his hand, kissing each of his fingers and making his way to his palm and up his arm. 

”I...don’t know” his voice is uncharacteristically soft, almost vulnerable as he lays his head on Stephens chest. Stephen is aware of his tone instantly, thinking of a way to bring back his usual sunshine like personality.

Coming up with a plan takes only a second. 

Tony stifles a laugh when Stephen kisses a ticklish spot on his arm, distracting him for a few seconds as he continued to kiss the spot. His laugh is loud and silky, throwing his head against his bed frame when Stephen hands join in on the tickling.

“okay! I— you can, sto—op” he’s still laughing even as Stephen slows down, his body still shaking along with the laughter as it died down to small giggles. Stephen laughs with him. “That was evil” tony scolds teasingly, now laying directly on top of Stephen— who just looks at him with a cheeky grin, knowing his plan had worked. The bright mood doesn’t last long, but enough so that tony feels lighter, limper against his chest and beginning to breath normally.

”what happened? You don’t have to tell the whole story”. It was a silent promise, _I’m listening even if you can’t tell me everything._

Tony hesitates, thinking about his earlier disagreement with Bruce and how that had sent him into a small breakdown as soon as he had reached him room, deciding not to attend his other classes for the day and instead lying in bed with self pity.

He doesn’t tell him off, he simply accommodates himself against Stephen and takes in a deep breath. 

“I spoke with Bruce today”.

At that, Stephen lifted an eyebrow, “your lab partner? Don’t you talk to him _everyday_?”.

“I—well yes, but I meant, I talked to him about what happened..And I know you don’t know _everything_ that happened, at least not exactly”.

”mostly things from what people say, though getting information from resources like them can be dodgy”, Stephen admits. Tony pokes his side. 

”yeah no, don’t get information from anyone who wasn’t there, LEAUGE students are real sketchy“.

Stephen snorts,

”yet you fell in love with one”.

Tony freezes in Stephens arms, slowly turning to look at him with his mouth agape, there’s confusion on his face and Stephen sighs, pushing away the loose curls from his face.

“It’s pretty obvious tony”

“wha—“

“The incident in the lab wasn’t just because of your lab partners carelessness” Stephen states, going to say more but stopping, tilting his head to one side as he added, “at least from what I’ve gathered.

“While Yes I heard that someone in the lab had dropped an entire shelf of potion acids, and that they had mixed with other poisonous ones which, naturally, caused an explosion— they never specified if it was the same person who had mixed them.

“You are insanely brilliant, more so than anyone i have ever met, and I mean, you were already being considered for admission as a member of council. You were changing everything. So I know you wouldn’t be careless to leave two dangerous potions near each other, if a freshman did it I’d believe it. But you? A student held in such high regards? No.

“Not a chance it was you. You would never risk your place in the ranks, your position in SHIELD, the safety of your lab team members, your positive relation with the head principle, and...the person you were in love with. You would never. Not unless something, or someone, had really really provoked you.

“I’m not blaming you tony, I know you aren’t capable of such a thing, at least not again. If it really had been a lab accident, you wouldn’t have been punished as severely as you were, maybe a slap on the wrist but that’s it. You were, _are_ , ilvermonys prized student”. 

Tony listened to Stephen attentively, grimacing when he brought up a point and backed it up with things he had been smart enough to catch, smart enough to observe and conclude from. when he’s finally done, tony can only stare, he’s not angry, why would he be?

He had stepped up to his mistakes, taken full accountability, the entire blame, and had been truth full the entire time. Surprised? Maybe, he knew Stephen would eventually find out, he had just expected it to be at his own terms, but the future was funny like that, messing up plans in which ever way it could. 

“Well you’re right” he starts, “for the most part. I um..yes, It was my fault that the lab went up in flames and all those people got hurt, I’ll never lie about that but”— he pushed himself up into a sitting position, tucking his legs in and letting his head fall back on to the frame of his bed. “I hadn’t dropped it on purpose”.

Stephen sits up as well, sitting at the other side of the frame, listening carefully as he watched tony play with his fingers. 

“the night before the lab accident, i had fought with Bruce. It was messy and loud, things were being thrown, on my part really, he just threw them aside but he was still angry, yelling at my reasoning. And I...I was _done_ with him, I was so done with him leaving me all the work to finish and giving me no explanation afterwards, taking all the credit when he didn’t even show up to class anymore, he didn’t do things on his own, such _simple_ and _easy_ things that I had to do for him. 

Writing the date on the top of our paper so the professor knew it had been handed in on time, or placing the books back where they were when he was done with them so he wouldn’t be fined. Not only did he not put them back, he used my name and had me pay the school back. Easy fucking things he could’ve just— I was done, I was so done and I told him that. 

_”I can’t do this anymore” tony cried as he threw the crumpled paper at Bruce’s face, wiping tears from his face as he pointed at it._

_”do you know what that is? Do you know what that is bruce?! It’s a last warning from the head principal. I can have my license revoked for helping you! I can’t keep doing this—“ he paced around Bruce’s room, waiting as the taller man leaned down to grab the paper and flattened it out.  
_

_“I could— I could lose my job! My future plans all wasted because of some, some stupid plot—_

_Bruce had remained quiet the entire time, going over the words written on the paper, seeing the dark spots scattered on the page knowing deep down they were due to Tony’s tears.  
_

”I told him I could be charged for sneaking out potions and materials to him. I never asked for an explanation, I trusted him and his needs for such materials, his requests for certain powders and acids.

Yes I had my doubts, who wouldn’t? But I was stupid and so..so _in love_ , I thought it every time as I shoved bottles filled with Acid into my bag, ‘it’s for him, it’s for a good cause, you’re doing the right thing’. Every. Single. Time. And when you do something like that for a long time....you’re bound to get caught.”

_The light was blinding, he held up his hands to try and block it from his eyes, he squinted and tried to get a better look at the person holding the flashlight. Could it be a student?_

_”Mr. Stark, I’m going to have to check your bag”._

_Tonys eyes widened, a security guard stalked closer to him, his hand hovering over a wooden stick strapped to the side of his utility belt.  
_

_The last thing he remembered was being slammed against the cobble stone wall with his hands behind his back as his rights were shouted into his ear._

_“_ After everything I put myself through, I knew it was time to end things, I didn’t want to ruin my future, but I also didn’t want to abandon who I thought was my friend. So I confronted him, and well, that went as well as you think it did. It was a screaming match, him telling me that I was being selfish, letting my emotions get the best of me.

All I wanted was an explanation, what did he do with those potions? What did he do late at night? Why did I have to meet him behind the school to give the materials? What were his plans? I pleaded for a reason to keep helping him, I told him I’d still help him out, I’d still get him the materials, I’d still put myself and my career on the line, id finish all his assignments and projects, but only if he told me what his motives were. 

And well...he didn’t.”

_”I don’t have to tell you anything Stark, you are as trust worthy as a street magician, only doing things to see what they can get in return. So that’s why you help me? So that you can get something in return? I don’t need your pity, and I don’t need your fucking help”._

_”bruce that’s not what I—“_

_”I don’t care”_

”and god, I thought it was my fault, how could I doubt him? He hadn’t given me any real reason to be suspicious, so why was I? Why was I so scared every time he approached me with a new task? A new order? Why did I get this sinking feeling in my stomach whenever he waved off my hard work? i hated myself for letting him down, and so I had apologized, telling him I was sorry that I had doubted him and then...

then he told me he had loved me. He didn’t explain any further. After that he was telling me I was cynical, childish, so easy and— and _stupid._ ‘I could love you’ he had said, but I was too emotional, too loud and too friendly, I was exactly what the tabloids had said I was. An absolute mess. So when the news came out that it had been my fault a million dollar lab caught on fire, absolutely no one had been surprised. Because that’s what a Stark was, a mess.”

Tony stops, turning his head away from Stephen to wipe away the tears running down his cheeks, Stephen couldn’t see him properly in the dark room, but he could hear his soft sniffles as he cried. 

”he left me in that room, crying me eyes out while he went off again to god knows where. His roommates had heard, hell, even his best girl friend had come inside and held me, coaxing me to leave with her, to get away from all this mess. He couldn’t give a shit about what I did or would do—“

Tonys voice cracks and this time he can’t hold back his cries, Stephens at his side in an instant, pulling the smaller man into his arms and whispering apologies, kissing his face softly and massaging his shoulders. He’s gentle, he’s understanding, holding onto him as if his life depends on it, kissing his tears away. 

Its only when Tony’s sobs are down to quiet whimpers that Stephen stops kissing his face, instead pulling the cover towards them, covering them both as he waited for him to calm down. He didn’t want to hear the rest, he knew he’d most likely commit a murder the next day if tony told him the rest, but another part of him needs the full story, a full understanding of his actions.

Tony must’ve seen the wonder in his eyes, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his sweater and clearing his throat, “I...I wasn’t okay that night. Bruce had basically cut me out of his life, he had admitted I wasn’t special to him, yes he had said he had loved me but that was lie.. it was a distraction to get himself out of that conversation.

”the next morning, I went down to the lab, and yes I was hurting but my job was important, I wanted to change the world, I still do, and if Bruce wasn’t going to do it...well, I was. But when I walked in that morning, way before anyone was inside, I caught Bruce.

There he was, in _my lab_ , making out with god knows who, no i didn’t look at her once, I couldn’t bring myself to do so. That wasn’t even the worst part, _no_ , the worst part was seeing my research, my work, work that I spent so much time on, day and night sitting up trying to finish, tucked into his bag along with my projects and potions. He didn’t give enough of a fuck to leave before I arrived, having the audacity to let me catch them red handed.

I saw red. 

From there, it’s pretty much what people have said. They weren’t completely wrong. Yes the shelf was knocked down, but it wasn’t an accident. He had mocked me, my research, my work, my..my everything. I told him he could leave and I wouldn’t tell anyone, all as long as he left behind my work.”

_”oh you mean this work?” Bruce’s fingers lingered on the rim of a bottle, circling it carefully, **tauntingly**. He was in control, the fuckin ass hole was in control. And before he could plead for him to stop, he was fully shoving the entire shelf off the rest of the cart.  
_

_Tony had watched in horror as the bottles cracked and spilled all of the acid on to the floor. It was like watching a movie in slow motion, he saw how as soon as the bottle made contact with the floor, a line bursted from the bottom and made its way to the top, making jagged lines and nasty turns. It was like a disease, spreading all over the bottle until it completely destroyed it._

_From there, The acid had spread all over, sizzling angrily like a snake giving a warning to back away, a warning letting him know he would not win. Tony should’ve taken it. Tony should’ve left, should’ve turned his head and walked away. But he didn’t. Of course he didn’t.  
_  
”and Bruce started to walk away, swinging the bag over his shoulder and guiding the woman out of my lab room, but I had had enough. I turned and I _pulled_ , I pulled at that bag but he pulled back, angrily telling me to let go, to give up, this wasn’t my fight anymore. And just like that, the strap broke, and that poisonous acid in the bag? That just so happened to fall on to the spill, and well, you know what happens from there”.

Tony signed tiredly, rubbing his eyes and leaning further into Stephen, his voice now lowered to a whisper, “I took responsibility for my actions that day, I just wish he had too.”

Stephen nods, his fingers brushing through thick curls.

His voice is soft, he didn’t blame tony for the way he had reacted, it wasn’t his fault he had fallen in love with a complete asshole, “I don’t think of you any different tony” he kisses said mans nose, smiling when he earns himself a giggle, “you weren’t at fault, even if you feel like you are”. 

Tony hums, slumping in his place as he let Stephen talk to him, listening attentively (or attentively as he could as he was falling asleep) and sighed. He would be okay, he didn’t need Bruce to be happy, yes it had hurt like hell to be betrayed, but he’d move on, he’d grow and prosper. And with Stephen by his side? He’d be set for life. 

“Go to sleep sweetheart” tony hears, a low grumble of a voice in his ear as he was moved to a more comfortable position. 

_I love you_. 

* * *

  
The morning after is quiet, it’s a Saturday so tony isn’t in a rush to get up and out of his bed, instead choosing to bury his head further into his pillows. He’s falling asleep again until he hears his toilet flush from the bathroom and the door open minutes later.

Tony’s brows furrowed, turning over in bed to look at the hallway leading to the bathroom, frowning when he saw Stephen turn from around the corner wearing a towel around his torso. His feet are bare and his hair is spiky, still wet but obviously fluffed by a towel. Tony’s from is clear on his face apparently, Stephen snorting at him as he came to sit on the bed.

”what? Disappointed to see me still here?”.

Tony shakes his head, “mm no, you’re usually gone by the time I wake up. Jus’ surprised is all”. Stephen hums, wiping his wet hands over on his towel.

Tony yawns, wetting his lips and plopping back down into his pillow, might as well get some more sleep in while he was still tired. That’s not the plan apparently, feeling Stephens cold hands on his back a second later. He yelps, shuddering at the cold touch.

“Get away from me you human icicle” he blindly swats his boyfriend away, his face still squished into his silky pillow. He hears the other man snort, but he listens and takes his hands off the small of his back. Tony sighs in relief, trying to get comfortable again, Stephen would most likely get ready and be on his way back to his room, tony would give him a kiss later when he heard him put his shoes back on. 

“what are you doing today” comes Stephens voice beside him, he hadn’t moved since he came out from what tony assumed was a shower. Unless he washed himself in the sink but that’d be odd.

“I dunno” he mumbles, “might go eat with the group later, apparently they’re going to the dinner hall. Those nerds”. 

“You’re a nerd too tony”.

“Uh yeah, but a hot one”.

”are you saying Steve, Bruce, Natasha, _Thor,_ Loki, Clint and Maria _aren't_ hot?”. 

Tony huffs a laugh, “Loki is, the rest are debatable”.

That earns him a slap to the arm, tony giggles but pushes himself up into a sitting position, facing Stephen— who looks _highly_ unimpressed, and smiles. He practically crawls over to his side, lifting his leg over Stephen to straddle him, wrapping his arms around him neck as soon as he does. 

”hi”

”hey”

Tony’s smile only grows wider, “you know I didn’t mean that. Loki is only sorta okay looking”. Stephen rolls his eyes, his hands sliding up Tony’s thighs, stopping at the hem of his shirt momentarily before crawling up further and setting them on his waist. Tony hated wearing pants to sleep, instead opting to wear one of Stephens larger shirts to bed. He’d been doing that since they were younger, Stephen was always the taller and lankier one, wearing shirts that fit tony like a summer dress.

”riight, Loki’s _only_ ‘okay looking‘ even though you dated him”.   
  
Tonys scoffs, “I dated him for like, a week, I don’t think that counts as dating”.

Stephen lifted and eyebrow, “ _we’ve_ been dating for a week”. 

“That’s different, we’ve known each other since forever, I knew Loki for a month, and now he’s just one of my weird friends that threatens to stab me but never does”. 

“he might one day, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t blame him”.

”whatever” tony sing songs, pulling Stephen forward to give him a kiss and shut him up. The taller man goes to protest but gives in the moment Tony’s lips part, giving him permission to slide his tongue inside. Stephen can’t help but comply, biting his lip as he did so.

It’s a slow wet kiss, not quite lazy but not energetic either, they hadn’t anything particularly sexual yet, and for now they would be taking things slow and steady. Stephen wasn’t trying to ruin anything by pushing his younger boyfriend into something he did not want.

It was only a two year difference, but big enough to make Stephen cautious about what they did in private. While Yes, they were both of legal age, Stephen preferred to get consent straight from his lovers lips, not by some law. So he takes things slow, kissing tony slowly but not exactly carefully, biting at his lips and leaving the spots bruised.

He decides to change the pace however, parting from tony and watching a string of saliva pull from their lips. Stephen lowers his lips to Tony’s jaw, smirking when he hears him try and suppress a whine, it’s not a very affective try. Stephen licks, bites and bruises, and when tony gasps, Stephen shudders , a sound coming from the back of his throat, half growl, half moan. He’s off Tony’s neck and back to him in seconds,“So beautiful,” he murmurs against Tony’s swollen lips.

Tony adjusts his position on Stephens lap, moving slightly further up so that he was taller, giving Stephen the ability to ravage his neck. Stephen kissed Tony’s ear and trailed kisses down his neck, Stephen muttered sweet nothings against Tony’s neck as he sucked another large hickey into the skin.

And when he asked permission to go lower, Tony nodded, practically breathless.

So Stephen does, lifting Tony’s shirt up by the hem and pulling it over his head, throwing the article of clothing aside aimlessly as his lips hungrily bit at Tony’s chest. Tonys hands pulled at Stephens hair, whines coming from the back of his throat as Stephen ravaged him. Stephen knew he wouldn’t end up bending Tony over the bed and fucking him senseless, no matter how much he desperately wanted to.

He wanted to hear his name screamed as he slapped his ass and thrusted deeply into him, making the smaller man take him in entirely. So many things that Stephen wanted to do, things that, sadly, he could not. They had only been dating for a little more over a week, if he was going to sleep with tony, he would make sure it would be special and not half assed. 

Plans change though, or at least alter slightly, when Tony’s eyes widen and cheeks begin to flush, he looks embarrassed and for a second Stephen doesn’t understand...until he feels it himself.

Stephen was hard under Tony’s thighs. 

There’s horror in Stephens eyes as they slowly flicked down to his now loose towel, his hard on clearly showing through the thin fabric. He goes to apologize, to excuse himself and walk away like a dog with its tail between its legs, but he doesn’t— he _can’t_. Tony pushes away his own loose curls, lips pursed as he studied Stephen for a few seconds before...before he lowered his hand and slowly slid it over Stephens head. 

Tony doesn’t give him a chance to speak, his lips capturing his own in a sloppy kiss as he kept messaging his cock, soft fingers parting around it to jack him off ever so slightly. On instinct, Stephen twitched underneath Tony’s touch, flushing when he felt Tony’s smile against his lips. They’re there for a long while, Stephen kissing tony as if his life depended on it, his hands groping Tony’s ass, humming at Tony’s small gasps. 

Eventually, Tony pulls away from him, giving him soft Pecks on his lips before he lowered himself off the bed and on to the floor, sitting on his knees and looking up at Stephen with a small smile playing on his lips.

Stephens breath hitches, letting tony pull him by the hand and position him to face him. When he’s done, tony is sitting in between his legs, head angled and waiting. Confusion crossed his face for a moment, he understood after a few seconds however, nodding at tony— giving him permission. 

Tony only moved when he received a nod of conformation. He pushed himself up slightly, balancing on his knees as he slowly discarded Stephens towel to the side. Stephens cock dropped from the towel, though hard and erect, it’s weight brought it down slightly. Tony hummed , wrapping a hand around Stephen, leaning down a bit and...

Stephen twitched, watching as tony slid his tongue out and brought it down to the tip of his cock. He was slow with it, licking all around the head and sliding his tongue up and down the shaft. Stephen gasped when tony finally took the tip of his head into his mouth, his tongue rotating around the sensitive skin, coating it in spit. Tony’s tongue was like a washing machine, flicking around him over and over again. 

“tony...” he groaned, throwing his head back when his boyfriend lowered his head and took in his length, though girth made the job a lot harder. Pretty pink lips spread around his cock, Stephen nearly convulsed.

Tony pulled back to take a deep breath, holding eye contact with Stephen as he spit on his tip, both hands coming up to spread it all over his dick. Stephen shuddered watching tony jack him off with both hands, starting slowly before picking up the pace. His hands moved in different directions, jacking him off from top to bottom but keeping two different paces, it was bliss. 

Tony breathed out, parting his lips once again and lowering them onto his cock, this time not stopping at his tip. Tony pushed his head further down, his throat pulsing around Stephens cock and his nose presses against his groin, his tongue sticking out to dab at his tightening balls.

“Fuck” Stephen hissed, gulping as he stared down at tony on his knees. 

Tony’s eyes fluttered to look up at him, honey eyes looking at him through thick lashes. His cheeks flushed and lips plumped around his cock, cheeks hallowed as he sucked his precum.

_Perfect, Perfect, Perfect_

Tony bobbed his head, eyes locked on his the entire time, sucking harder and swallowing him all the way down at least four times before stephen began to buck down his widening throat. Tony let him fuck his throat, Stephen moaning when tony sucks powerfully. He can’t help but thrust hard into his mouth, struggling to not cum inside him.

He fucks his throat hard, hands threaded through thick curls as he aggressively pulled him in and then out— matching the pace of his thrusts. There’s tears streaming down Tony’s cheeks but he can’t bring himself to stop, groaning when he hears the smaller man choke around the base of his cock: at which it was thickest.

Stephen knows he’s about to cum, dropping his hands from Tony’s curls and going to pull out when tony grips his wrist and pulls him in even further, Stephen can see the bulge of his cock in Tony’s throat.

“Fuck...tony..ton—“ he doesn’t get to finish his sentence, instead yelling when cum bursts from his cock, his entire body shaking, a moan erupting from the back of his throat. And Tony, sweet flushed Tony sucks on his tip, licking around his shaft for any cum that drips down. 

Stephen is trembling, looking down at tony who still jacks him off, milking every bit of cum he can offer. When Stephens done shaking, or at least reduced in doing so, tony looks him straight in the eye as he swallows, licking his lips for every bit of drop left. Stephen doesn’t mention the cum running down Tony’s neck, or the cum splattered on his chest. Instead, he shakily reaches for the towel thrown to the side, picking it up and wiping at Tony’s mouth. 

Tony hums and leans into his touch, slumping against the bed and Stephens thighs, letting the older man wipe him down. He’d take a shower obviously, but for the moment wiping would do. His eyes are half open, sleepily reaching for stephens hand— who gladly holds Tony’s in return, giving him a reassuring squeeze before standing up and grunting as he picked him up. 

Tony wasn’t fat, Stephen would snort whenever his boyfriend would call himself that, thick? Yes, but fat, never. Doesn't mean it’s an easy task for Stephen as he carries tony to their [bathroom.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/91/98/12/919812fda21f7873ff2eea14922aaa6a.jpg)Tony would most likely stop talking to him for a week if Stephen admitted that however, that he found tony heavy? Yeah no, Stephen would much rather keep his dick, more now especially after the little... _gift_ tony had given him. Stephen could admit though, that extra weight was nice around Tony’s ass, plump and round, it was perfection ,and to him, an _Atheist_ , it was proof of gods existence. 

Tonys still awake, though all the choking had tired him out a bit, he leaned against the tub and sighed happily when warm water started to pool by his legs. Stephen simply waited by for the water to fill up completely, he watched tony in the meantime. The corners of his lips tilting up into an adoring smile, his relationship with tony was more than he could have ever imagined. 

He’d work hard to keep it that way, no one would mess things up for him, not even Tony’s lab partner. Bruce Wayne still had the upper hand, but it wouldn’t be for much longer, eventually, tony would stop loving him altogether. And either way,

Bruce Wayne wasn’t much good at fixing things.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know what I’m doing to be honest, I wrote this just to get my writing skills back in motion. It’s been months since my last story (all which still exist, just on a different account) and so I've been trying to exercise them out a bit. The plot..doesn’t really exist, I have no clue where this is going anymore but I’ll still continue it. Don’t expect more than ten chapters however. I’d say to pay attention to certain characters, they’re not exactly what they seem, you might be choosing the wrong side, but who knows though right? ;) Anyway, if you’d like this to go in a different direction, I’m perfectly fine with that, just drop a comment and I’ll write the plot however you like. And if you want to vote for the endgame pairing, that’s cool too, I want my readers to enjoy this as much as I do. Well, that’s all for now, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this page.
> 
> Much love,  
> \- The author ❤️


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